Big Bear's Daniel Jett(5) runs the ball down field for a touchdown during the CIF Southern Section Division 12 championship against Santa Maria High Saturday December 2, 2017 in Santa Maria.

SANTA MARIA — It took the Big Bear High football team five hours to travel to Santa Maria for the CIF-Southern Section Division 12 title game. But, following the Bears’ 37-23 win against the Saints, the return trip probably went by in the blink of the eye.

In fact, the Bears had a Jett to take them there, as in junior running back Daniel Jett, who seemingly came out of nowhere to rush for 193 yards on eight carries to help lift Big Bear to its third section title.

“Daniel had a breakout game,” Big Bear coach Dave Griffiths said. “He’s probably going to be our quarterback next year and I think everyone got a sneak peak of him tonight. He’s a special player, but we haven’t needed him on offense with Chuy (Castro) and everyone — he’s mostly played on defense.”

Big Bear led 17-10 at the half and was still clinging to that seven-point lead when Jett took an option pitch from quarterback Chase Dowty and sped 45 yards for a score that put Big Bear up 24-10 with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

That didn’t quite knock Santa Maria out, but it was definitely a haymaker that stunned the Saints (9-5), who came in having won seven consecutive games.

“I feel good,” Jett said. “I’ve been playing with these guys for 10 years, since we were kids and we’re all brothers. It’s our first title since 2006 and it’s a good feeling.”

Santa Maria had a plucky and talented team and never quite went away. The Saints moved the ball down to the Bear 1, but the Bears recovered a fumble, setting up a game-changing play. This time, it was Zachary Bernard taking a handoff and rumbling 99 yards for a score to widen Big Bear’s lead to 30-10 with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter.

Santa Maria moved to within 30-16 on a 1-yard run by Isiah Garcia with 8:02 left, but then Jett struck again at the 5:51 mark, sprinting to the end zone from 35 yards for 37-16. Suddenly the big crowd which followed the Bears up to the Central Coast could practically taste the victory.

Still holding a 37-23 lead in the final minutes, Big Bear put the game away with a clinching interception by Troy Dobis.

Soon, Big Bear was dancing off the field with the victory and Griffiths was getting the inevitable Gatorade bath on the sideline as Bears fans rejoiced.

“We knew that we could do it if we just executed,” Big Bear offensive lineman Tyler Jones said. “It’s a great feeling to do this with my brothers. We’re going to be proud to bring this home to Big Bear.”